Save the John Piper Mural at the Birmingham Chamber of Commerce

The DCMS has upheld the recommendation made by Historic England not to list John Madin's Birmingham Chamber of Commerce, and the building is now likely to be demolished.

We are deeply concerned that this demolition will also mean the loss of the large and intact John Piper mural in the entrance hall. Piper is regarded as one of the most important British artists of the mid-twentieth century, and this abstract, brightly coloured work in gloss-fired tiles is one of his first large-scale public murals, commissioned specially for the building.

The relocation of the Eduardo Paolozzi mosaics from Tottenham Court Road Station to the University of Edinburgh demonstrates that murals which are structurally fixed to walls can be successfully reconstructed elsewhere.

We call on the Chamber of Commerce, the current owners of the building, to find a new, publicly accessible home for this outstanding work of art.